A Cuppa Trouble

by Angela Ruth Strong

Connor groaned. “I wasn’t lying.”

  “Right. I know. You were protecting my feelings. Were you worried that I’d overreact and dump you again?”

  Connor held out his hands as if offering her the chance. “Are you going to?”

  Her heart tripped. How did they get here? She’d been expecting a proposal, and now he was expecting a breakup.

  She’d been in his arms a moment ago. He’d finished construction on her loft as a Valentine’s gift. They were supposed to go for a ride in the carriage. How did they return to that place? More importantly, did she want to return?

  She took a deep breath, and her belly quivered as she met his gaze. “Connor, I don’t want a bodyguard—someone who thinks he has to protect me from life’s difficulties. That’s what ruined Tandy’s relationship with Vic. I want to be equals.”

  His jaw softened. He dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry, Marissa. I just don’t want to mess this up.”

  In his attempt to protect their relationship, he may have destroyed it. “Tandy and I don’t enjoy the same drinks, but we have a good relationship.” She sent a dark glance toward the kitchen. “Or we did.”

  “That’s different. I figured you’d want your boyfriend on your side.”

  “Oh…” Marissa propped a hand on her hip and shifted her weight to point dramatically at the cup on the counter. “I hate that you like coffee. But as Billie said the other day, if the two of us agree on everything, then one of us is pointless. Our goal in communication shouldn’t be agreement but to understand each other.” That sounded good, but did she really believe it?

  Connor stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Do you understand why I might have been afraid to tell you these things?”

  Marissa didn’t want to admit her failure, but that’s why communication like this was important. Because they could point out each other’s blind spots and grow. “Yes.” Would he be open to seeing his blind spot? Could he become the man she needed him to be? “And do you understand why I don’t feel like I can trust you right now?”

  “In that case, I’ll leave and give us some time apart.” He strode out the door.

  Greg arrived at the shop minutes before The Dating Game was scheduled to begin, but he still beat Connor. Tandy quirked her lips and glanced up at the loft to find Marissa taking turns seating patrons and checking for her boyfriend every time the bell over the front door rang.

  Greg unzipped his jacket, hung it on a hook, then spun to grab Tandy’s hands. “Happy Valentine’s! I turned down the shrimp cocktail at lunch, so I could kiss you tonight.”

  “Much appreciated.”

  His lips brushed over Tandy’s. Her toes curled in response. She’d kiss Greg hello even if it meant ending up in the ER again.

  “I left in the middle of a meeting to get here for The Dating Game, and now that I’m here Connor and Marissa don’t stand a chance.” He tugged her toward the stairs.

  Tandy tugged back. Greg returned like a yoyo, smiling down at her. “Did you want another kiss?”

  “Later.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Connor’s not here, and we don’t know if he’s coming.”

  “Is he okay? Did something else happen to his mom’s Porsche?” Greg looked out the window as if looking for the real murderer to take his client’s place in court.

  “He’s fine. Kinda.”

  Greg faced her, eyes focused to read between the lines. “Is Marissa still upset about him kissing you?”

  “Well, that and…”

  Greg tilted his head.

  No way to sugar coat it. Not even creamer would help the taste of this truth. “I was sneaking him coffee.”

  Greg stilled. “Tandy…”

  “I know. It’s bad.” She clicked her tongue. “It made me feel like a hero at first, and then I liked the taste of his tea when we traded, so I kept doing it.”

  Greg leaned forward like he thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “You liked the taste of tea? Did you tell Marissa? That might help soften the blow.”

  Tandy nodded glumly. “I thought it would help too, but there’s the whole thing about dishonesty and secrets.”

  Greg tilted his head. “A lot of his secrets were involved in today’s proposal. I’d think Marissa would understand that.”

  Tandy quirked her lips. “He didn’t propose.”

  “Oh.” Greg dropped her hand and dug in his suit pocket. “The Dating Game is a chance for Connor to work on this relationship. I’ll call him and tell him he needs to be here…”

  The bell above the door rang. Connor breezed in. “I’m here.” He took the steps two at a time, like a man with a mission.

  Tandy watched then checked for Marissa. Sure enough, she was also watching, but Connor charged up the stairs and strode right past her, as well.

  “I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing,” Tandy muttered.

  Marissa’s breath caught. Connor was back. She didn’t know if they were going to make it, but she really didn’t want to lose him.

  As for being contestants in The Dating Game, the timing could not be either better or worse. They were going to be forced to find out things about each other that they might not want to know so they could figure out if their relationship was going to work.

  Connor ignored both her and all the guests, despite the effort he’d put into finishing the remodel and her effort at decorating each round table with tiny desserts on tiered trays and vintage teapots that had come from Grandmother’s house. He strode to the temporary stage he’d designed that barely fit four chairs with a podium in the middle. He took his seat on one side and glanced at his watch pointedly.

  All that work, and he wasn’t even going to enjoy it. Well then. Marissa leaned over the loft railing and waved for Tandy and Connor to come up. They climbed the stairs.

  Joseph Cross nodded toward Marissa then stepped up to his place at the podium. They might have had their differences earlier, but he was a professional. It was probably because of his experience announcing Miss Ohio pageants in his seventy odd years that he’d donned a tux for the role. “I’d like to thank you all for attending this grand opening of the tea room at Caffeine Conundrum. And I’d like to thank the owners, Marissa Alexander and Tandy Brandt for inviting me to host such a lovely affair.”

  Polite applause as if they were at a golf tournament. Marissa nodded to the tables of guests ranging from Billie to Connor’s parents. Her stomach flip-flopped at the pleased smiles they sent her way. Obviously, Connor hadn’t told his parents that he’d been sneaking coffee and kissing Tandy.

  She slid her gaze his direction to see how he felt about putting their struggling relationship on display for Valentine’s Day. He kept his eyes fixed on a spot on the floor about two feet in front of him.

  Mr. Cross placed a hand on the podium. “The shop owners came up with the idea for The Dating Game when Connor Thomas said he’d have the renovations finished by Valentine’s Day. And didn’t he do a wonderful job?”

  More hand-clapping. As much as Marissa had always loved applause, it was beginning to grate at her nerves like Chinese water torture.

  “The owners wanted a fun way to welcome you to their establishment and give you a chance to get to know them better. Without further ado, I now invite our contestants to come forward.” Mr. Cross motioned to the stage where Connor currently slumped by himself.

  Marissa followed behind Tandy and Greg, afraid the tension humming between her and Connor would only increase in electricity the closer she got. Sure enough, the staticky feeling on her arms would have made for a super commercial about dryer sheets.

  She sat primly and peeked sideways to see Connor’s reaction. He continued to stare at that invisible spot on the hardwood.

  Mr. Cross held his hands wide in typical gameshow host manner. “Let’s meet our couples. First, we have our coffee connoisseur, Tandy Brandt, who recently moved to town and started dating her childhood sweetheart, Greg St. Claire. Greg is a criminal attorne
y, so he’s probably used to this kind of pressure. What makes you think you two will win The Dating Game, Greg?”

  Oh no. Mr. Cross was really going off script and hamming it up. Was he going to ask her and Connor that same question?

  Connor moved, but only to rub a hand down his face.

  Greg gave a winner’s smile, and Marissa’s heart sunk.

  “Well, Joseph, Tandy and I may not have been dating as long as Connor and Marissa, and we’ve never been engaged before…” Ugh, he played dirty. “But we started out as young friends who looked forward to hanging out every summer when her family was on vacation. I know Tandy has my back because she took the ‘Girls Only’ sign off her tree fort when we met.”

  Tandy smiled. “I forgot about that.”

  The crowd chuckled.

  Mr. Cross wiped a fake tear from his eye. “That treehouse story makes me feel a little sappy.”

  Marissa rolled her eyes. Though maybe if Mr. Cross told enough cheesy jokes, the crowd wouldn’t notice the way Connor ignored her.

  Mr. Cross turned to face them. “That brings us to Marissa who met Connor after college. How does the story go? You rode your bike off a bridge, Marissa, and Connor had to rescue you from the river?”

  Marissa’s lips pinched together. Not the kind of face she was taught to make during the interview portion of beauty pageants. She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I could have swum out of the river on my own, but Connor’s always been…uh…protective.”

  Connor glanced her way at that. What? He didn’t like it? She could have said overprotective, but she wasn’t trying to make him look bad.

  Mr. Cross played it up. “Now tell me, Connor, how are you going to protect Marissa from losing to Greg and Tandy?”

  Her spine stiffened. She forced herself to clasp her hands and smile his direction in what she hoped looked like an expression of anticipation rather than anxiety.

  His gray eyes were granite. They held a challenge. The be-careful-what-you-ask-for kind of challenge. “I’m not going to protect her from anything. We’ll be completely honest up here and see what happens.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mr. Cross smiled at his audience, chandelier light glinting off his pearly dentures. “For this first round, we are going to ask the gentlemen to go outside so our ladies can answer some questions. Once they’ve answered, we will bring you fellows in, and you will get a point for every answer you guess correctly. Good luck.”

  Connor stood in unison with Greg. Greg, however, bent over to kiss his girlfriend goodbye. Marissa pretended not to notice, pasting on a smile that was so fake, she might as well have been wearing dentures like their show host.

  Connor led the way down the stairs, though Marissa’s heart would have beat him to the first floor with how fast it sank.

  Mr. Cross stepped from the podium to take Billie by the hand and pull her to her feet. “I’m inviting my lovely assistant to help me with this next part.”

  The crowd cheered politely. Except for Connor’s parents. His mom watched him disappear out the front door below while his dad studied Marissa and rubbed his jaw in the same contemplative way Connor often did. Hopefully nobody else would catch on to the fact that besides playing The Dating Game, Marissa was also playing Charades.

  Billie appeared in front of her, blocking her view. As it also blocked the audience’s view of Marissa, she gave her cheeks a rest from the strain of smiling.

  Billie handed her a stack of poster boards and a Sharpie. Concern softened her slanted eyes.

  Marissa tried to look away.

  Billie lifted an eyebrow above the frame of her red plastic glasses, signaling that she could see through Marissa’s show.

  Thankfully, Mr. Cross ushered Billie to his other side where Tandy waited for her supplies. “For each question I ask, our contestants will write their answer down. Are you ladies ready?”

  Tandy checked on Marissa, her eyes wide with hope.

  “We’re ready,” Marissa said for them both. Then she sent up a quick prayer. In her beauty pageant days, she always prayed to win. Today she prayed for survival.

  “First question. How would you describe yourself in one word?”

  Marissa stared at the blank page. She knew how Connor would describe her—Drama Queen. Thankfully that was two words. Also, he was supposed to answer how he thought she would describe herself.

  She scribbled across the cardstock, her heart hammering. She’d never been this real on stage before.

  The questions continued. Sweat beaded on her skin and trickled down her spine. She felt more heartsick with every answer. Could she claim to be ill and reschedule the event?

  “It is now time for my lovely assistant to welcome the men back to our competition.”

  Billie must have descended the stairs while Marissa was writing because she was already opening the door below. Connor came in from the cold, hunched in his army green jacket, hands clenching his trusty toolbelt like a security blanket. How could Marissa be both angry at him and want to rescue him at the same time?

  Greg patted him on the shoulder as they climbed the stairs. He probably knew what was going on now too. Was he being supportive or simply excited about winning.

  Marissa turned to analyze Tandy who had dressed up for the event in black slacks, a black sweater over a white oxford shirt, and black flats. For a change, she almost looked like a good match for her professional boyfriend. Marissa, on the other hand, wore high heels, a full red skirt, and a t-shirt with sparkly kissy lips that didn’t go with Connor’s carpenter jeans and steel toed boots at all.

  He sunk down in his seat, keeping his jacket on like he thought he might be planning to make a quick escape.

  “Welcome back gentlemen. I hope you’re ready to answer some tough questions.”

  Connor shrugged, and for the first time in her life, Marissa wished to fall off a stage like she had at the Miss Ohio pageant.

  “We asked the girls how they would describe themselves in one word. Let’s start with you, Greg. How do you think Tandy described herself?”

  At least Connor didn’t have to go first. While Greg took his sweet time, chuckling about how savvy and sassy he thought Tandy was, Connor looked Marissa up and down like he’d never seen her before? Really?

  “I’m going to have to go with sassy, Joseph.”

  Tandy groaned and held up her sign saying savvy. “I haven’t really been my sassy self lately.”

  Then Greg ogled over Tandy’s beauty and brains a little more, which didn’t help Marissa’s nerves at all. Because, at the moment, Connor certainly didn’t see Marissa in such a light.

  Mr. Cross turned to face them. “If you can get this one right, Connor, you and Marissa will be in the lead. How would Marissa describe herself in one word?”

  Connor met her eyes. He knew her better than anyone else, but because of that, now everybody else was going to know her a little better than she wanted them to. “Klutzy,” he said.

  Marissa held up her sign. KLUTZY.

  The audience laughed. She lowered her eyelids, uncomfortable with the transparency. She peeked at Connor.

  One corner of his lips curved up. It was nice to see him starting to enjoy himself, though his accuracy in this question didn’t bode well for his honest answers to the next three. Winning this game could cost them their relationship.

  “Great job, Connor. The score is one to nothing.” Cross pivoted, turning his back toward them. “Now Greg, to get on the board, what is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to Tandy?”

  Connor’s eyes widened. He had a whole list of Marissa’s embarrassing moments to scroll through. Her cheeks burned with the possibilities of what he could reveal.

  Greg chuckled. “I’m going to have to go with the time her childhood crush—me—ended up being her defense attorney when she was wrongly arrested for murder.”

  “Wow,” Mr. Cross exclaimed as if he hadn’t known all about it. “Have you ever been em
barrassed more than that, Tandy?”

  Tandy shook her head then held up the poster board in front of her face to hide. Greg leaned behind it to kiss her.

  So not fair. Even Tandy’s embarrassing moments resulted in romance. Whereas—

  “Connor, can Marissa top Tandy’s embarrassing moment? And more importantly, can you guess what she would say it is?” Joseph’s voice seemed to get deeper as the night went on. Or was he trying to hold back laughter at what he suspected might be coming.

  “Well,” Connor read her like a psychic pretended to read tea leaves. “Many of you have been witness to more than one of Marissa’s embarrassing moments, including today’s. And because of that, I’m going to say, her most embarrassing moment is this question. This moment. Right now.”

  Marissa didn’t break eye contact as she held up her poster board. THIS.

  The crowd roared with both laughter and applause. If only she and Connor weren’t separated by a wall of distrust, then they could celebrate, as well. But even if she could tear down the wall, the next question was sure to build it back up.

  “Impressive, Connor. Either you found out these questions ahead of time and are cheating or you know each other very well.”

  Connor’s thin smile did not reach his eyes.

  “Third question.” Joseph drew the attention away from Marissa for the moment. She watched Connor to see how he would react to what Mr. Cross was about to say. “Greg, to even the score, you must answer this correctly: How would your girlfriend describe your last kiss?”

  Connor stilled. His gaze bored into hers. If he was completely honest, he’d reveal to the whole room that he’d last kissed Tandy. And if he didn’t, he’d be protecting Marissa with dishonesty. The very thing she’d blown up at him about.

  “My last kiss?” Greg clapped his hands together. “I’m sure everybody noticed that we kissed behind the poster board, but what you may not know is that when I kissed her for the very first time yesterday, she had an allergic reaction to the shellfish I’d eaten and ended up in the ER.”

  The crowd gasped.